"teen kids news" is on now and here's what we've got. vegetarian or vegan. what you need to know before taking meat out of your diet. i'll tell you why billings, montana, is called the magic city. inside this workshop there's a craftsman that can turn you into a mermaid, well, almost. i'll take you to israel, where refugees from violence in africa

are given a new beginning. that and more on "teen kids news." welcome to "teen kids news." i'm mwanzaa. >> and i'm jessica. here's our top story for this week. you might be making a stand for the rights of animals. or perhaps you simply want to eat more simply. you'd be joining a lot of young people if you choose to become vegetarian or vegan. but as felipe reports, it's not a step you should make without without thinking, planning and learning. >> you want to do the honors of the washing? >> lucie steiner's dad supports her decision to be vegetarian and helps her make healthy meals. >> he likes cooking. when i became a vegetarian, like he maybe took that as an

opportunity to experiment with different cooking strategies. >> vegetarians don't eat meat. and some don't eat fish. but they do eat eggs, milk and milk products like cheese. lucie made the choice to change her diet a few years ago when she was a sophomore in high school. >> i heard the story of how they made veal and it really, like, disturbed me i guess. >> a concern for animals and the environment was the reason emili fiegelson chose to be vegan. >> it just uses less water to be vegan. it uses less land. all of which is sort of being depleted by our current system of agriculture. >> vegans don't eat any animal products. they also don't use anything made from animals like leather shoes or bags. >> being a vegan is like actively taking a more gentle footstep on the earth. >> shannon algiere is a grower at stone barns center for food and agriculture. the farm doesn't use pesticides or other chemicals and everything used for growing, including water, is recycled. emili became vegan after

volunteering here. this is where she often buys vegetables for her meals. >> hey, john. how are you? >> i'm good, how are you? >> good, thanks. >> i was thinking today i want to get some scapes definitely. >> by the way, scapes are the stalks of garlic plants. while kinder to the earth, being vegan and even vegetarian is risky, especially when you're a teen. anne fletcher is a dietitian and the author of "weight loss confidential." she says anyone considering changing their diet should make an important step first. >> the best thing for them to do is to go see a registered dietitian to make sure that they're getting a well balanced diet, they're getting adequate protein. >> both emili and lucie take vitamin supplements to replace iron, b-12, calcium and other important nutrients that come from meat and dairy. >> your body needs every vitamin so that's definitely something i have to watch out for is remembering to take that. >> very true. if you're interested in becoming vegetarian or vegan, as i just

reported, you should definitely speak to a health professional. like your family doctor. stay with us. there's lots more still to come on "teen kids news." >> we'll be right back. zblaenchts and now our fox in the classroom update. >> president obama vacationing with his family on martha's vineyard. with the escalating situation in libya, he's adding more work than play to his itinerary. after receiving updates, the president issuing a statement. the future of libya is now in the hands of the libyan people. going forward, the united states will continue to stay in close coordination with the tmc. we will continue to insist that the basic rights of the libyan people are respected. after months of fighting, libyan rebel forces finally gaining control of most of tripoli. tropical storm irene gaining strength to become the first hurricane of the atlantic hurricane season.

the storm unleashing torrential rain and winds across puerto rico leaving thousands without water and power and forcing folks who live there to seek emergency shelter. irene continuing her move north and threatening to hit the u.s. the hurricane season officially began june 1st and ends november 30th. pope benedict xvi speaking to young catholics during world youth day celebrations in madrid, spain. more than 1 million pilgrims from nearly 200 countries gathering to see and pray with the pope. during the main mass, pope benedict urging the crowd to become missionaries and resist spe secularism. pope john paul started world youth day to reinvigorate and spread the faith among young people. it's held every three years at different locations. for "teen kids news," fox news channel in the classroom.

this is israel, a small nation in the middle east about the size of new jersey. the country grew out of the turmoil of the world war ii when jews across europe faced terrible persecution by the nazis. it's remembered in history as the holocaust. many jews came here to build a new future. back then, a school for orphans of the holocaust opened, called havat hanoar. today the school is still helping orphans, welcoming refugees from all backgrounds and from all over the world. like the country, itself, this school is very diverse. >> i think that the jewish people must do it because of the history of the jewish people. >> danny chaim is sharing a special sabbath dinner with

teenage refugees from africa. these young men risked their lives to escape the violence in their home country, sudan, unlike the other students at havat hanoar, the teens are not jewish. they're muslim. >> i think they know that they are living in jewish society. they are living in israel culture, and we know that they have -- that they are special here. not like everyone in the beginning. >> in order to catch up with the other students at the school, the new comers are learning two new languages along with a lot more. >> i'm learning hebrew. i'm learning english. i'm learning math. i'm learning history. i'm learning geography. >> vo abdel nasser's story is extraordinary. he and the other boys here ran away after their village was attacked by arab terrorists

called janja-weed. >> people want to kill me -- i got to leave. >> they made their way out of sudan and across egypt, dodging gunfire from egyptian border guards. they finally made it all the way to israel. since they had entered the country illegally, they were put in jail. and that's where havat hanoar entered their lives. >> when we heard that these people are in the prison, we decided we must give some chance to live like young people in israel. and the government and the people needs to decide what to do with them. but until they decide what to do with these kids, we need to give them life. >> someday the boys may be able to return to their home villages and help their families. in the meantime, abdel says he hopes to repay the country that saved him. possibly by joining the israeli army. >> israel help me. take me to school.

i study now here. i finish school. i help country. you know, i help this country. this country help me. nobody want to kill me. everything is okay. >> their future is uncertain, but they will face that future with an education. and for now, these boys not only have a place of safety, they've become part of a family. and while i was away from home, they became part of my family, too. for "teen kids news," from israel, i'm jessica. stress. we all feel it from time to time. i certainly do around test time. but too much stress can mean you're on overload. the university of illinois advises students to learn how to give themselves a stress check. some signs of stress overload

are physical. headache, stomachache, trouble sleeping, a loss or increase of appetite. emotional or mental signs of too much stress can include feeling overwhelmed, irritable, crying often and having poor concentration and memory. there are behavioral signs, too. turning to alcohol, drugs or other harmful activity. if any of these seem familiar, speak to your parents, a counselor at school, or another trusted adult. we teens already have enough to deal with. we certainly don't need to stress over stress. i'm natalie. here to help you make the grade. if you have ever thought of becoming a veterinarian you'll want to pay close attention to this next report. jenna toured at a place where vets get specialized training to provide top quality medical care to critters. >> you heard correctly, that bird -- just meowed.

that's because this particular african gray parrot usually lives in a home with cats. >> there you go. you just made a new friend there. >> the parrot recently needed a doctor. so its owners brought her to new york city's animal medical center. these middle school students got a special tour. >> so how can you tell females from males, jen? >> with african grays, they need a dna blood test to tell if they're male or female. >> trained veterinarians come to the animal medical center to become specialists in their field. they've already learned how to treat animals. now they're becoming experts on a particular type of creature or illness. >> so sue is what's called an english pointer. >> dr. nicole leibman is one of the busiest vets in the

hospital. she's an oncologist. that means she treats patients that are fighting cancer. >> and she's doing very well. she's in remission and we're hopeful that she's going to be well for a long time. >> sue looks sad because remission is good news. it means sue no longer shows signs of the disease. this cat named barney is just starting treatment. the kids had a chance to see the cancer cells that were taken from his body. >> you didn't see how much detail, but it was interesting because you saw what was actually inside the cat. >> this x-ray shows there was a lot more inside this puppy patient than should have been. >> this is a big huge knife. and you have to worry that maybe it's going to shear through the esophagus. >> radiologists take the x-rays. they worked with surgeons to remove the knife without injuring the dog. >> you're saying wow, you pulled it out, isn't it just going to slice right through? in this case as long as you go pretty slow and you fill up the

side of the esophagus with gas you can actually avoid hitting the wall. >> as you can see, being a vet takes a lot of training, you have to go to college for four years and getting into a vet school isn't easy. >> there are 27 colleges of veterinary medicine in the united states. every state does not have a veterinary school of its own. >> dr. ann hoenhaus heads up the medical center. she says there's a need for new veterinarians especially those who want to do research. to be a good vet, you have to be dedicated to the animals and their owners. >> you have to remember that you have to love people, too, because every pet on the end of their leash is a human being. an animal and their human owner. they don't come to us all by themselves. >> just like a human doctor, you have to be willing to work all hours. the animal medical center is open every day of the year, 24 hours a day. these vets want to make sure our best friends get the care they need when they need it. for "teen kids news," i'm jenna.

welcome to billings, montana. it's one of the great frontier towns of the old west. it's also my hometown. ♪ >> howdy. >> to help tell us the history of billings is kevin kooistra. manning with the western heritage center and jocye jensen wrote a book about the town. how did billings get its name? >> fredericks got its name from frederick billings, former president of the northern pacific railroad who they honored by naming the town after him. >> the railroad created the town and almost by accident. >> there was a nearby town by

the name of colson which expected to be the next great railroad town. because they raised prices and made it inconvenient for the railroad the railroad decided to build their own town. the town of billings. billings basically prosper the. coulson disappeared. >> about the only thing left of coulson is boot hill cemetery. >> this is the burying grounds of coulson. most people buried here died violently. there were murders, suicides and accidents. they died with their boots on. so we call it boot hill. >> meanwhile back at billings -- >> when the railroad came in, billings grew so quickly, one rider said like mushrooms after a rain storm. it quickly took on the nickname, the magic city. >> the town's history is dotted with a lot of colorful characters. for example, calamity james. >> calamity was quite a character. she did all kinds of thing no women would do, no lady anyway. she rode a stride. she smoked, drank with the best of the men. she did men's work. but she was a really interesting

person in that she was an awfully good nurse and a whole lot of people really liked calamity. in the 1920s, air shows were going on all over the country. there are wing walkers, there were stunt fliers and an air show came to town with a wing walker. unfortunately for them they went broke here and lost all their money and that wing walker needed a job. he went to work as a mechanic. later he became the most famous man in america when he flew solo across the atlantic. his name was charles lindberg. >> another famous flier who visited billings was amelia earhart. earnest hemingway got into a car accident and was hospitalized here with a broken arm. fortunately that didn't end his writing career. >> billings was placed in the heart of crow country. the crow indian reservations is across the yellowstone river. the crow have always been a part of billings history.

early on. they came here and traded in the stores that opened. later on, the crow were a big part of our annual fair and of course today a lot of people in billings travel to the annual crow fair and celebrate crow culture and traditions. >> billings is also known for its striking natural beauty. it's hard to believe this area was once covered by a great sea. >> there are large cliffs of sand stone around billings, great walls of rock. we call them the rim rocks. the rims. that's all that's left of the great island sea. >> from the top of the rim you can see the present day billings. >> billings has always been a major transportation center here in the northern great plains. it had irrigation which allowed agriculture to prosper. we grow sugar beets here for refined white sugar. we're an oil and gas center. we have hospitals here, colleges. and because we have so much diversity, unlike other frontier towns, billings has continued to prosper and grow through all the years.

>> billings even has its own theme song. ♪ in the shadow of the rimrocks by the banks of the yellowstone ♪ ♪ there's a place i long to be in, there's a place i call my home ♪ ♪ you're a booming human city and you're really rather pretty ♪ ♪ billings my city, my home and visitors are always welcome to sample our western hospitality. i'm carrie for "teen kids news." this report is brought to you by ralph warren. >> we're at the u.s. open ball

person tryouts. let's check it out. hundreds of hopeful teams and even adults lined up and signed in for this year's open call. >> i want to be a ball person because i'm athletic and i'm fast. i think i have a good chance of making it. >> i thought it was a good opportunity. just looks like a lot of fun. >> it is a lot of fun. but it's also serious work. while thousands of fans watch the u.s. open from their seats in the stadium and millions more watch it on tv, the ball person has to be on their toes. it's their job to quickly retrieve balls that are hit out of play so the next point can be served. >> the ball person that we're looking for has to have a little bit of wherewithal in terms of what's happening on the court, has to be enthusiastic, wants to work hard, be a part of a good team. >> to be a ball person you need two things. speed and agility. but having a love for the game doesn't hurt either.

>> i've been a ball person for four years and i love the game of tennis. >> not only is a great summer job, you also get to wear great uniforms designed by ralph lauren. >> i think the outfits are pretty cool. all different type of colors look interesting. >> oh my gosh. i love the outfits. i want one so badly. even if i don't make it, i want to get one. >> the tryouts are open to anyone 14 and older. you're tested on running, throwing and catching. of the 600 people who showed up only 80 will be selected. those who made the grade in the past say it's definitely worth it. >> it's a great experience. especially when you have the crowd there. you have players. they're very intense. so it's wonderful. >> you can see who made the cut during the u.s. open. for "teen kids news" i'm carina. wood carving is a craft that requires tremendous patience, steady hands and an eye for beauty. erika introduces us to a man who

has all three and loves what he does. >> a master craftsman with a unique skill. >> i carve figureheads, anywhere from eight foot tall to a foot tall. figureheads are characters, women, men, could be animals. that are on a bow of a sailing vessel. it's part of the design of the ship. they would not sail without them, up until around the 1900s. but prior to that, every ship had one. >> the idea seems to have started with the vikings. >> they used it on their ships. the dragon heads and what have you on the bow of the ships. and superstition was a big thing; and also identification of a ship. sailors did not always know how to read, but they nigh what the figurehead of their ship looked

like. >> vo sal crafts his work out of a small studio on the pier of the south street seaport museum in new york. so when the museum's own historic ship named wavertree needed ats bow, they knew who to call. >> how do you start the carvings? >> i start the carvings by, i do a lot of drawings, and i also do clay models of the figure, and knowing the size, i'll start carving, as an example, a head first. you laminate the pieces together as you would a butcher block. >> so what do you do after the finish carving the clay model? >> then you want to get the measurements from the clay model. then i start drawing lines, take the measurements of the eyes, forehe forehead,. i start dropping the head back and bringing the nose forward. if you make a mistake then you have to carve deeper and if you

keep carving deeper you add wood in the back because you're taking a lot of wood away in the front. so you can make mistakes but it's costly because it requires a lot of time. >> when it's completed this figurehead will be eight feet tall and will replace an earlier version that sal created many years ago. >> the dress she'll have will have a 23 carat gold design, with real gold laid into it. she'll be looking up like so over the horizon. she's the eyes of the ship. >> sal showed us one of the other works in progress. a partially assembled mermaid. >> i have to put the rest of it together. that's all i could work on the rest of the body and finishing and painting it. once i get done with that, i'll laminate all the pieces together. >> after seeing sal's ability firsthand, i had just one more question. do you think you can make a figu figurehead out of me? >> definitely. fins and all.

>> from sal's workshop, for "teen kids news" i'm erika. >> that wraps up our show. we'll be back with more "teen kids news." thanks for joining us and have a great week. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com write to us at info@teenkidsnews.com.